Soba with Tempura & Sesame Spinach
# Two ways from the same pantry: cold zaru (dipping) or hot kake (in broth), # rounded out with a crisp protein and a quick green side so it eats like a # full meal. # The bottled soba sauce is a concentrate — dilute per its label. Rough # rule: ~1:2–1:3 with cold water for a dipping tsuyu, ~1:7–1:8 with hot # dashi/water for a drinking broth. # Soba overcooks fast; taste a strand a minute before the package time. # Tempura not worth the oil tonight? Pan-sear the shrimp in a little oil, # or top with a soft-boiled egg instead — both work. # # 2026-05-31 — Not cooked this round (no shrimp bought). Arthur doesn't want # to do tempura — too much work. Default this to the seared-shrimp or # soft-boiled-egg route; don't lead with deep-frying.
Ingredients
Noodles & broth
- Buckwheat soba noodles — ~2 bundles, or a couple good handfuls
- Mentsuyu / bottled soba sauce, diluted per the label (see notes)
- Dashi — for the hot version (or just water + a little more concentrate)
- A scallion or two, thinly sliced
- Nori, shredded — optional; wasabi — optional, for the cold version
Tempura (or simpler protein)
- ~½ lb shrimp, peeled and deveined — and/or vegetables (sweet potato, green beans, mushroom, onion all fry well)
- For the batter: ~1 cup flour, 1 egg, ~1 cup cold (ideally iced) water — keep it lumpy and cold; neutral oil for frying
- Simpler routes: pan-sear the shrimp in a little oil, or skip the protein and top each bowl with a soft-boiled egg
Sesame spinach (gomaae)
- 1 bunch spinach (or other quick-cooking green)
- 1–2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds, plus a splash of the soba sauce or soy to dress
Method
- Spinach side: blanch the spinach 30–60 seconds, shock in cold water, squeeze dry, and cut into a few lengths. Toss with sesame seeds (crush some in a mortar if you have one) and a little soba sauce or soy. Set aside.
- Tempura: heat ~1 inch of neutral oil to ~350°F. Whisk the cold batter just until barely combined — lumps are good. Dip the shrimp/veg, fry in small batches until pale gold and crisp, ~2 minutes, and drain on a rack. (Searing instead? Just cook the shrimp in a hot oiled pan, ~1–2 min/side.)
- Noodles: boil soba in plenty of unsalted water, stirring so they don’t clump. Pull them a touch before the package time. Drain and rinse hard under cold water, rubbing off the surface starch.
- Cold (zaru): pile the rinsed noodles on a plate; serve diluted cold tsuyu in bowls with scallion, nori, and wasabi alongside. Dip a few strands at a time, with the tempura and spinach on the side. Hot (kake): warm dashi with enough soba concentrate to taste like a light broth. Re-dip the noodles in hot water to reheat, nest in bowls, pour the broth over, and top with scallion, nori, and the tempura.